The Institute of International Education has an emergency grants program to assist students from Haiti enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions who need financial assistance to stay in school to complete their studies.  Campus advisers must nominate students and there is a February 12 deadline.  Read more

AASCU President Howard praises President Obama’s call to make higher education more affordable for middle class families and his proposed increase in education spending during the 2011 fiscal year.  Read more

AASCU’s Academic Leadership and Change Division is offering a webinar on February 17, 2010 that addresses the roles new faculty at AASCU institutions often have to focus on that are outside their discipline and graduate institution values.  For more information and registration visit www.aascu.org/meetings/webinars/ALC/10feb17.htm

The 2010 Communications Conference features the president and CEO of a national public relations firm, an author and consultant who counsels major corporations on effectiveness during downturns, and the top higher education editors and reporters.
For more program information and conference registration go to www.aascu.org/meetings/comm10/index.htm

Students from California State University, Chico’s Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program will help build a memorial next week to honor firefighters who lost their lives in the 9/11 disaster in New York City. Seventeen CSU, Chico students attending the annual World of Concrete trade show and conference in Las Vegas will help erect two eight-foot towers inscribed with the names of 56 fallen firefighters on a special reflective concrete exterior. Read news release

The higher education admission process just got a lot easier for students thanks to a new union between Tarleton State University and several other institutions within the Texas A&M University System. On Jan. 21, Tarleton President F. Dominic Dottavio, Ph.D., signed a formal agreement with the A&M System that will allow seamless transfer into certain programs at Texas A&M University in College Station. Read news

William Paterson University will build a solar energy facility on the campus in Wayne that will be the largest solar facility at a university in the nation. It is expected to save millions of dollars in energy costs for the University. The installation will be capable of supplying 3.5 megawatts of clean, low-cost energy. The first 3-megawatt phase is to be completed during 2010; the second 500-kilowatt phase is scheduled to go online in 2011. Read news release

A friendship that began more than 25 years ago between two colleagues working in Savannah has led to the establishment of the endowed Lillian A. Hood Economics Scholarship that will benefit future students at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Captain Dale Lewis, a 1992 AASU graduate, established the scholarship in honor of Lillian Hood, a long-time Savannah resident and mother of two Armstrong Atlantic alumni. Read news

Having just completed a two-year project with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)/Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training has received another two-year grant from the USDA. The new USDA grant, worth $296,000, will fund a two-year project to develop a permanent Cal State Long Beach course called “Latino Nutrition and Chronic Disease Prevention.” Read news

Eastern Kentucky University received the following grants:

1. William Bennett, Natural Areas, was awarded $80,000 from Western Kentucky University for the KUPEE Energy Initiative, sponsored by the Commission for National and Community Service, which will integrate service learning into environmental education programs as a means to increase energy conservation within the service region.


2. Donna Harmon, Training Resource Center, was awarded $54,000 from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services in support of a child support conference.


3. Donna Harmon, Training Resource Center, was awarded $869,400 from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for the University Training Consortium cost center.


4. Terry Kline, Safety, Security, and Emergency Management, was awarded $365,084 from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to continue operation of the Kentucky Motorcycle Rider Education Program.


5. Gary Ritchison, Biological Sciences, was awarded $7,000 from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources for research on sharp-shinned hawks in Kentucky.

On the heels of a global financial crisis, the Indiana State University Foundation has received a $6 million gift from Lilly Endowment to advance financial services public policy, research, and education. Read news release

Longwood University’s Institute for Teaching Through Technology and Innovative Practices has received a $1,049,777 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund “Digispired ii: Workforce Investigation Inspiration for STEM (WiiSTEM).” The grant allows for the continuation of the Digispired project that began in June 2007 and was funded by an $891,000 grant from the NSF. Read news

Saginaw Valley State University students continue to find new avenues to explore their research and creative interests. Five student projects were awarded financial support from SVSU's Student Research and Creativity Institute for 2010. One team of aspiring engineers plans to develop a bicycle that could charge exercisers' personal electronics. Meanwhile, a student will study the effects of a common chemical on mammal reproduction. Other projects will examine the local need for fitness programs for local firefighters and the effect of a historical massacre on women's roles in Mexico. Read news

Savannah State University was awarded a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a five-year project that will strengthen the university’s research capacity and infrastructure to promote minority health and eliminate health disparities. Read news

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi received the following grants from The Coastal Bend Community Foundation:

1. College of Education – received $5,000 to purchase books and supplies to teach reading and writing to children at the Boys and Girls Club of Corpus Christi, Greenwood Unit.
2. College of Education/Antonio E. Garcia Arts & Education Center – received $4,500 for the Happy Kitchens, Healthy Choices program.
3. College of Education/Department of Kinesiology – received $2,500 for the National Youth Sports and Wellness Program.
4. College of Liberal Arts/Art Galleries – received $2,500 for its 2010 Summer Art Camp.
5. College of Liberal Arts/English Department – received $2,500 to fund scholarships for its 2010 Young Authors’ Camp.
6. College of Science and Technology/Center for Coastal Studies – received $5,000 for the Coastal Bend Eco-Historic Project.
7. Intercollegiate Athletics – received $2,500 for the Summer Basketball Camp for At-Risk Youth.

UNC Pembroke received the following grants:

1. North Carolina Child Welfare Education Collaborative by UNC-CH/DSS/NC DHHS for $30,090 to Sherry Edwards.
2. Small Business and Technology Development Center by SBTDC/NCSU/US Small Business Administration for $72,751 to Sylvia Pate.
3. Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Student and Faculty Development by the US DoED to William Gash for $1,005,544.

Randy Bertolas, professor of geography at Wayne State College, will receive $59,800 in grant funding from the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education for an Improving Teacher Quality grant entitled, "Geography Education Professional Development Workshops Coordinated by the Geographic Educators of Nebraska.'' Read news

Thanks to a $15,000 grant awarded by the Illinois Higher Education Center (IHEC), Western Illinois University's Office of Public Safety (OPS), Western's Alcohol and Other Drug Resource Center (AODRC) and Macomb Police Department (MPD) will be able to engage in additional underage-drinking prevention efforts on WIU's Macomb campus and in the Macomb community this semester. Read news

Maine Congressman Michael H. Michaud and the U.S. House of Representatives recognized University of Maine at Farmington President Theodora J. Kalikow and UMF’s Sustainable Campus Coalition for their efforts in making a clean energy campus a reality. Kalikow’s leadership in guiding the campus towards energy solutions that reduce greenhouse gases and long-term energy costs was noted in the Congressional Record as an inspiration to institutions everywhere. In addition, the University’s SCC, a group of students, faculty, staff and community members that promote environmental sustainability on campus and in the area community, was applauded by the legislative record for its collaborative efforts towards a clean energy future. Read news release

Four cadets from Angelo State University’s Air Force ROTC Det. 847 have been awarded scholarships through the U.S. Air Force ROTC In-College Scholarship Program (ICSP) and the Air Force Association. Read news

Angelo State University’s Center for International Studies (CIS) has been named co-winner of a 2010 Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education by the Institute of International Education (IIE). Read news

The Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship at Cal State San Bernardino has captured a national award for a program that mentors top minority science students across the nation doing advanced graduate work in technology entrepreneurship. Read news

Monica Holmes, associate dean of Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration, was awarded the 2009 Ben Bauman Award for Excellence from the International Association for Computer Information Systems. She was recognized for her faculty excellence and service including leadership roles in professional organizations, assuming committee responsibilities and serving the community. http://www.cmich.edu/x22.xml

The International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) Board of Directors has announced that David Ross, director of the Show Me Center at Southeast Missouri State University, is the recipient of the Charles A. McElravy Award. Read news

Jimmy H. Ishee, dean of the College of Health Sciences at Texas Woman’s University, received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education (NAKPEHE) during the 2010 NAKPEHE Conference held Jan. 7-9 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Read news release

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has selected Patricia Nunn, director of the Texas Woman's University Dental Hygiene Program, as one of 10 recipients of a William J. Gies Award for Vision, Innovation and Achievement. Read news

The Eastern District Association of the American Alliance Professional for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance recently honored University of Maine at Farmington student Kelley Damboise as an Outstanding Future. She is one of only two Maine college students chosen in 2009 for this distinction. Read news release

Since its inception in the early 1950s, Weber State University’s School of Nursing has had a rich, pioneering history. Now a new textbook, written by WSU nursing faculty, is receiving national recognition for chronicling the history of the nursing profession.
“A History of American Nursing: Trends and Eras” by WSU faculty Deborah Judd, Kathleen Sitzman and G. Megan Davis has been chosen as a winner for the 2009 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year award. Read news

Angelo State University animal business major Ivana Milovanovic has been named one of only 22 college students nationwide invited to attend the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2010 Agricultural Outlook Forum Feb. 18-19 in Arlington, Va. Read news

Central Michigan University seniors Leah Liinangi and Ben Eberlein took first and second place respectively in the Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon competition at Pi Sigma Epsilon’s North Central Regional Conference Nov. 7 at The Ohio State University.

Graduating seniors from the College of Business at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith have scored in the top 25 percent in the nation on a standardized test given to approximately 250,000 business students at 500 institutions. Steve Williams of Fort Smith, dean of the College of Business, said UA Fort Smith's students have placed in the top 25 percent or better every year since 2005 -- the first year UA Fort Smith offered  baccalaureate degree programs in business -- on the major field test in business administered by ETS (Educational Testing Service). Read full article

Olympic medalist and UHD student, Diana Lopez, has written a book with her brothers, Jean, Steven, and Mark called, “Family Power.” The book, released in late in 2009 by Penguin Press, chronicles their work as they became “America’s First Family of Tae Kwon Do.” Read news

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, January 31, was a proud moment for William Paterson University’s music program as three individuals connected to the program have been nominated and may receive awards during the nationally televised ceremony. Stephen Bryant, an internationally acclaimed bass-baritone and professor of music at William Paterson, has been nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the Best Opera Recording category.  Producer Rob Fusari, a 2006 graduate of the University and one of the forces behind pop singer Lady Gaga, is nominated in the Album of the Year category as a producer on Lady Gaga’s smash hit, The Fame.  In addition, legendary jazz artist Clark Terry, permanent artist-in-residence in the University’s renowned Jazz Studies Program, received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Read news